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Late push carries DuBois toward victory over Chucks

DUBOIS — Four-straight late victories that totaled 19 team points allowed DuBois to earn a 41-34 victory over the Punxsy wrestling team Thursday night.

The Chucks (12-12) were riding high after Tyler Titus' upset victory by fall at 215 pounds. They jumped ahead 28-22 with that win, but couldn't score again until Kody Young won by forfeit during the final bout of the night.

Unlike last week, when the Chucks received two big wins from freshmen Josh Schuckers and Joel Bowers to beat St. Marys, 34-30, the 103- and 112-pounders were unable to rise up once again.

"When Titus won big for us, and we were going into 103, we knew we needed to win 103 or 112. We thought we had a good shot at 103, and it ended up being a good match," Punxsy head coach Eric Eddy said. "That is two freshmen. They did everything they could to come through for us."

Titus (5-23) won for the fifth time this season when he pinned Austin Barr in 2:58. He had a front headlock on Barr, who tried to lift Titus, and Titus came out on top.

"I knew when Titus had him on his back, he would pin him," Eddy said. "Titus is very strong in that position. Once we got there, I got excited."

Punxsy wrestled without 140-pounder Caesar Maruca, who is out due to injury but is expected back at districts next Saturday. Because of Maruca's absence, the Chucks forfeited 135 pounds to Tom Sleigh and bumped Seth Spack to 140 pounds.

Spack (26-5) came through with a fall in 1:32 over Zane Drum, but without Maruca, Eddy felt his team lost some crucial points that could have turned the match in Punxsy's favor.

"If Caesar's in the lineup, we win 135 and win 140. That takes six points off the board for them. That tightens things up considerably, so that's a big deal," he said. "At 135, we didn't bump away from Sleigh. We needed to go where we knew we would get six (points) instead of just three. If Caesar's in the lineup, we don't make that move."

Prior to the forfeit at 135 and Spack's win, Neko Cappella (27-5) started the night with a 63-second fall over Matt Busatto at 130 pounds. Busatto's move from 125 to 130 led to Young (27-2) receiving a forfeit to end the match.

Punxsy won two of the next three bouts, with Nathan McGregor downing Chris Powers, 11-0, and Carl Langley pinning Shane Marshall in 3:23.

Sandwiched between the wins by McGregor and Langley was Geno Morelli's 23-8 technical fall in 5:03 over Punxsy's Duell Thompson (15-15). After Langley won, both Josh Neal (10-16) and Tige Woodson (13-19) lost by fall.

Joe Morrison pinned Neal in 2:32 at 171 pounds, and Landa Hanna won by fall over Woodson at 189 in 5:19.

Also winning for DuBois were Nathan Petitti at heavyweight and Garrett Brown at 119 pounds. Petitti pinned Brennan Knarr (1-12) in 56 seconds, and Brown took out Devan Snyder (6-24) in 1:23.

The Chucks will now have more than a week off to prepare for the District IX Class AAA Individual Championships, which begin Saturday at Clarion University. The seeding meeting will be Tuesday night in Brockway.